He said: “All the opinions of the local council were ignored and the fears of the local residents around the prison have been ignored. Sadly, the battle has been lost and we just have to get on with making it a success now."

John Parham has said in the past that the development could "potentially cause a blight"

Mr Parham also raised concerns about the affordability of the homes in the development, saying: “I don’t think local people can afford to live there.

“They’ll take some time to sell. The danger is they don’t sell and the apartments fall into the hands of private landlords and they become rental properties”.

The prison, which was the UK’s oldest was first established in 1625 and closed in 2013. It housed many notable inmates including the Kray Twins who were held in the prison following their desertion from National Service in the 1950s.